The Hockey’s Future Mid-Season Organizational Rankings are an assessment of the overall state of each NHL team’s system of prospects.  An overall ranking is given, and strengths and weaknesses are identified.  The ranking is being posted in installments every few days. Teams ranked 21-30 were posted here, and teams ranked 11-20 are below, with previous rank in parentheses.

The rankings were compiled by a committee of staff members using the prospect criteria normally used by this site.  Since this is a mid-season ranking, players who were projected to appear in 41 or more NHL games in 2003-04 during the production of this list were excluded from the final draft of the rankings.  Some of the excluded players may still be listed as prospects on some of the team pages, however, but moving them to “Graduated” status is a project for another day.

For information on individual prospects for each of the NHL teams, follow the link to the various team, league, or country pages here at Hockey’s Future.

 

11. Anaheim Mighty Ducks (9)

 

Strengths: Even though the Ducks have recently promoted high-end talent such as Stanislav Chistov, Joffrey Lupul and Alexi Smirnov to the NHL, their organization is still pretty well stocked. They are set in goal with a potential franchise type netminder in Ilya Bryzgalov. The forward lines have a good combination of speed, power and scoring threats. They are also starting to address the lack of size up front with the likes of Ryan Getzlaf, Corey Perry and Shane Hynes.  Tim Brent joined Getzlaf as members of Team Canada at the recent WJC.

Weaknesses: After Mark Popovic, the defensive depth is a little weak. The Ducks have some interesting projects on the blueline in Juha Alen and Brandon Rogers, but no sure bets.

Top Prospects: (C) Ryan Getzlaf, (F) Corey Perry, (D) Mark Popovic, (F) Chris Kunitz, (C) Tim Brent, (G) Ilya Bryzgalov.

 

 

12.  Boston Bruins (22)

 

Strengths: Boston is another team with a strong goaltending prospect in Hannu Toivonen, who has the luxury of not being required immediately.  The Bruins’ main strength is their future defensive corps led by Mark Stuart and Shaone Morrisonn.  Lars Jonsson, Milan Jurnica and Andrew Alberts further round out the backend.  Although none of them may ever be Norris Trophy winners, all will be good NHLers and they are a well-rounded group.  Boston also has a few NHL capable forwards in Martin Samuelsson, Andy Hilbert and Sergei Zinovjev.

Weaknesses: None of Boston’s forwards seem to have what it takes to be a true top line talent in the NHL. Zinovjev may, but he still has not been to Boston’s training camp despite being drafted in 2000 and Samuelsson seems most likely to be a third liner and Hilbert an average second liner.

Top Prospects: (G) Hannu Toivonen, (D) Mark Stuart, (D) Shaone Morrisonn, (D) Lars Jonsson, (D) Milan Jurnica, (F) Andy Hilbert, (F) Sergei Zinovjev, (D) Andrew Alberts, (F) Martin Samuelsson and (G) Matti Kaltiainen.

 

 

13.  Los Angeles Kings (10)

 

Strengths: The Kings have a deep system with a formidable group of blueliners leading the way. They are well balanced between puck movers such as Tim Gleason and Denis Grebeshkov and the big, punishing stay at home types like Aaron Rome and Richard Petiot. Up front, they may not have any superstars, but they do have a number of prospects that should play in the NHL. The Kings have been willing to draft and develop players that are considered projects and have had some success. Monstrous center Brian Boyle is a good example of this as is playmaker Konstantin Pushkarev. Others such as Jeff Tambellini, Petr Kanko and Brady Murray are less risky and should be solid, yet unspectacular NHLers.

Weaknesses: The Kings are lacking a blue chip goaltender. Ryan Munce is a solid prospect and collegian netminders Matt Zaba and Nathan Marsters flash talent, but both are long-term projects. The Kings are also lacking a sure fire top six forward. They have several prospects with the potential to play on the top two lines, but that is the downside to their history of drafting projects.

Top Prospects: (D) Denis Grebeshkov, (D) Tim Gleason, (D) Richard Petiot, (C) Brian Boyle, (F) Jeff Tambellini, (F) Petr Kanko, (C) Jared Aulin.

 

 

14. Nashville Predators (8)

 

Strengths: The Predators possess very impressive talent and depth on the blueline as Ryan Suter, Kirill Safronov and Kevin Klein could all end up being top 4 blueliners in the NHL. Meanwhile, forwards Scottie Upshall and Brandon Segal could be solid two-way wingers on the right side and might fit right in with Nashville’s team. Timofei Shishkanov and Konstantin Glazachev are the only forward prospects who look purely offensive. In net, Brian Finley has rebounded nicely from injuries and could be a stud. Teemu Lassila provides goaltending depth.

Weaknesses: There isn’t a lot of offensive potential up front for Nashville. Actually, it could be argued that as a whole, Nashville really doesn’t have a prospect with the potential to be a game-breaker. There is also a lack of left wings in the organization and despite the depth on the blueline, it’s hard to say how many can make the NHL jump after the top 3. Prospects at center are missing size, and strength.

Top Prospects: (F) Scottie Upshall, (D) Ryan Suter, (F) Timofei Shishkanov, (D) Kirill Safaronov, (G) Brian Finley, (D) Kevin Klein, (F) Brandon Segal, (F) Darren Haydar.

 

 

15. Detroit Red Wings (20)

 

Strengths: Despite rarely having top selections, the Red Wings have amassed a strong stable of prospects at every position by continuously seeming to find gems in late rounds. Most notably are Igor Grigorenko and Jiri Hudler, both of whom possess a multitude of offensive skills. Tomas Kopecky and Tomas Fleischmann add more forward scoring depth to the Wings future. The blueline features Niklas Kronwall, a standout who was a recent call up for Detroit. Goaltending is another area where Detroit shines. Stefan Liv, James Howard, Drew MacIntyre and Joey MacDonald provide plenty of depth.

Weaknesses: Because of their lack of top picks and need to find late round gems, Detroit has quite a few weak spots. After Kronwall, the defensive prospect depth is suspect and questionable. The organization could really benefit to develop a hard-nosed rearguard. Also, among the forwards, despite the skill, there is a lack of size and strength so a power forward is needed.

Top Prospects: (F)Igor Grigorenko, (C) Jiri Hudler, (D) Niklas Kronwall, (G) Stefan Liv, (C) Tomas Kopecky, (F) Tomas Fleischmann.

 

16. Dallas Stars (27)

 

Strengths: Dallas has great goaltending depth with three masked men, Jason Bacashihua, Dan Ellis and Tobias Stephan, talented enough to make the NHL. It seems that the Stars realized they struck gold with Jere Lehtinen and filled their prospect cupboard with similar players because they possess a deep group of two-way European forwards.  Defensively the Stars have two highly skilled, undersized prospects in Trevor Daley and Martin Vagner.

Weaknesses: The Stars are missing the powerful, physical specimens in the system. They do have collegian defensemen Matt Nickerson and Drew Bagnall who have size and mean steaks, but neither is expected to make an impact for another few years. Up front, the Stars lack size and strength. They do not have a legitimate power forward or a top-flight superstar candidate anywhere in their system.

Top Prospects: (G) Jason Bacashihua, (G) Tobias Stephan, (D) Trevor Daley, (D) Martin Vagner, (F) Annti Miettinen, (F) Jussi Jokinen, (F) Loui Eriksson, (F) Mathias Tjarnqvist, (F) Vojtech Polak.

 

 

17. Chicago Blackhawks (1)

 

Strengths: Chicago has plenty of depth between the pipes, starting with Craig Andersson and Michael Leighton and continuing on with Corey Crawford. They also possess a deep blueline corps led by Brent Seabrook, Anton Babchuk, Michal Barinka and as many as 3 others. Up front, they still possess Mikhail Yakoubov, Igor Radulov and Pavel Vorobiev.

Weaknesses: Last year’s top organization has seen quite a few graduated prospects move up. Their goaltenders all seem to possess the terrible trait of letting in a bad goal a game and none of them look like they will be top NHL starting netminders. There is also a lack of physical scoring wingers and two-way forwards.

Top Prospects: (D) Brent Seabrook, (F) Igor Radulov, (F) Pavel Vorobiev, (F) Anton Babchuk, (C) Mikhail Yakoubov, (G) Michael Leighton, (G) Craig Andersson, (D) Michal Barinka.

 

18. Vancouver Canucks (15)

 

Strengths: Aside from their strong goaltending duo consisting of Alex Auld and Lukas Mensator, the biggest strength for the Vancouver Canucks is their depth up front, most noticeably down the middle.  Boasting prospects such as Brandon Reid and RJ Umberger, Vancouver has a nice mix of power and finesse complimented by Ryan Kesler and Ilya Krikunov.

Weaknesses: Although their blueline is highlighted by one of the better prospects in Kirill Koltsov, the defensive core in Vancouver is rather weak. In fact, outside of Koltsov the defense cannot guarantee another prospect making the Canucks. Tomas Mojzis shows good offensive instincts with the puck, but otherwise isn’t expected to make a significant impact on the club.

Top Prospects: (C) RJ Umberger, (D) Kirill Koltsov, (C) Ryan Kesler, (G) Alex Auld, (G) Lukas Mensator, (F) Ilya Krikunov, (C) Brandon Reid.

 

19. Calgary Flames (11)

 

Strengths: Calgary can brag about having arguably the best pure hitting prospect in Dion Phaneuf. Phaneuf isn’t the only solid stay at home defender in the organization, a role that Calgary appears to be deep at when including Tim Ramholt as well. Between the pipes, Russian goaltender Andrei Medvedev and CHL graduate Brent Krahn make a formidable duo for the Flames in the future.

Weaknesses: With exceptions made for 2002 first round selection Eric Nystrom and Andrei Taratukhin, the Flames lack any potential game breakers, natural scorers and pure skill players among their forward core. Both on forward and defense, the Calgary Flames may have trouble providing offense.

Top Prospects: (D) Dion Phaneuf, (F) Eric Nystrom, (D) Tim Ramholt, (G) Andrei Medvedev, (G) Brent Krahn, (C) Andrei Taratukhin.

 

20. Minnesota Wild (23)

 

Strengths: Up front, and especially down the middle, the Minnesota Wild are fairly strong. With a pair of prospects at center such as Mikko Koivu and Patrick O’Sullivan, Minnesota fans certainly have something to look forward to. Wild coach Jacques Lemaire likes to implement his favorite defensive system, and he should be pleased with the amount of potential checkers coming up through the ranks.  Minnesota is at least deep in goal, with four goaltending prospects.

Weaknesses: Minnesota’s prospect depth in terms of blueliners is an issue that stands out like a sore thumb. With only about two defensemen with legitimate shots at making the National Hockey League, defense should be an issue the club will look to address at the 2004 NHL Entry Draft.

Top Prospects: (C) Patrick O’Sullivan, (G) Josh Harding, (C) Mikko Koivu, (F) Matt Foy, (F) Kyle Wanvig.